What happens in Vegas, remains in Vegas. Well, what happens in Goa, definitely doesn't remain in Goa. It comes along with you, stays with you, takes you back to Goa.(At least, I'd like to believe)
This ain't gonna be a blog where I tell you which places to go, what to eat, what to see. If you came with that in mind you can still go back. For those who wanna know when it's time to say,"Dude! that's some major shit that is happening in your life. It's all so fucked up", it's for you guys. Call them rants if you want. All this, coming from the girl in red shorts. Well, I would be pleased to say that I had almost lost my job for this and strangely so I had no problem with that and trust me it was more than worth it.(Secretly, I wished my boss fired me. ;) Why I have not quit my job already, is a different story altogether for a different time)
The trip was special this time.
a) It was G.O.A, the ultimate fun destination that I had been planning for so long, strictly with friends.
b) This break came after 1.5 years of non-stop working(some of the Sundays too)
c) All-girls trip for the first time ever! (Highly recommended)
d) It was one of my best friend's bachelorette, hence it had to be super wild. Wild, I made sure, it was. ;) (Suddenly am feeling so old, seeing friends getting married :( )
e) Last year was weird, this break was much needed.
After exchanging almost 250 emails with my gal pals, we were finally Goa-bound. Precious things i learned while planning this:
a) Girls will start gossiping anywhere. They don't care what the concerned issue in the email is.
b) When people say girls are a confused lot, very sadly I will have to agree with them now.
c) Just keep saying yes to whatever is being planned else you'll find yourself into a never ending loop of suggestions and confusions, even on things as petty as sun-screen.
d) When the water starts getting over your head, take charge, become the leader and start taking decisions for them. Trust me, you'll become the bad-ass for once but actually you are doing THEM a favor.
e) Planning is still easier, execution mammoth.
The friend who is supposed to get married has not gone so far as next state, except for where she was born, where she grew up and where she studied. She has never seen a disc in her life, never did a night out with her friends (except for hostel) and is going to get married to a nice guy with perfectly creased shirt, shining shoes, frame less spectacles, blackberry at its place and parting cleanly visible, the kinds your parents want you to get married to. He is a very nice guy though(I have met him). All good girls meet good guys. And girls like me, well they think the good guys exist and want to meet them. When the good guys do show up, they freak out. We need someone to tell us that it's all okay and that you are not weird if you don't believe in commitment and if it makes you develop a cold feet. Again, it's a different story altogether for a different time. So for her, we had to make it large and make it large we did(pun totally intended ;)). She was totally insane by the end of it, trust me on that.
DAY 1:
So finally, one fine morning we were on plane to Goa. No cute stewards around. Fail.
I personally hate flying. I mean it's good for the initial part of the time when we are airborne, but the overall experience is a little short of harrowing for me. The take-off, the landing, the exploding eardrums and consequent head-ache, the monotony of the scenery outside(yea, am not one of those who is fascinated by the sky and clouds), and the only person sitting next to you mostly wants to sleep. Trains on the other hand are super interesting, the only disadvantage being long hours consumed in traveling. Though, am not much of a talker than the talkee especially when it comes to strangers but it's fun, the ever changing landscapes, even observing people, getting engaged in an interesting conversation with a stranger is icing on the cake. Even the curiosity of who's gonna sit next to you for the next 16-17 hours of journey is another exciting thing, praying for a handsome bloke to come and take the seat. But call it a string of bad luck, prayers never worked. :-/ Or may be all the cool guys have started taking flights. Damn! People are forgetting the simplicity of life, of traveling via trains and talking to strangers, sharing food with them, finding out common interests or even discussing the pathetic condition of trains these days and why flying is better.
Sometimes there comes a time in our life when our life is going on at the speed of 900kmph and we miss out on all the things that just pass by. A smile, a word, a flower, a breeze and in my case this time, a feeling of cool wave hitting my feet gently. That's the time we should press the brake with all our might. Screeeeech. Halt. Think. Reflect. Is it worth it?
Coming back to the trip, the first impression of Goa was not good on me to be honest. But the fault was mine. I was expecting wrong things from Goa. When I used to think about Goa, I would just imagine beautiful beaches, sunsets et al. Goa is not just about that I realized after doing some roaming and spending time there. Thank god I didn't let the first impression stay for long. Goa is definitely about beaches and sunsets but it is also about fun, about masti, music, awesome food and drinks, awesomer people and awesomest nightlife. I realized it within 3 hours of being in Goa, when I came out of the first restaurant in Calangute beach. Pathetic beach, I must say(After seeing the most amazing beaches of Andamans, blue water and white sand, you will surely not like anything else, so my fault, not the beach's). Wayyy too crowded with shady people around. We were damn hungry, that may be another reason why we didn't like that beach and cause of which we were getting a bit grumpy too. There was this restaurant called Sans Lobo where we ate food twice our capacity cause a) we were damn hungry b) the food was damn good.
After that we went to Baga Beach, all walking. It must have been good 3-4 kms and by the time we reached Baga we were again tired, grumpy, pissed and hungry. But as soon as we sat in the restaurant called St. Anthony's which is by the beach, we were our peppy-selves again. Coming to think of it now, walking to Baga was not that bad an idea after all. You get to know the actual things about the place when you roam about walking, taking time and seeing things.
The thing that we missed in Calangute we got it here, nice clean beach, nice crowd, nice music and to top it all Karaoke. Except for a couple of us noone had seen a beach before, they went wild(we were seven girls). It was night time but still we splashed, we played by the sea-side.
And after that 7 girls singing on the top of their lungs, "Summer of '69" and Complicated, joined by almost whole of the restaurant, it couldn't get wilder than this. We knew then Goa had arrived!
Contd.
